Cabinet



Sept. 11, 1962 c. GOLENPAUL 3,053,602

CABINET Filed Dec. 7, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 /3 "an"; M1

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Af/WE/VEYS Sept. 11, 1962 c. GOLENPAUL CABINET 2 SheetsSheet 2 FiledDec. 7, 1959 7 L 8 0 U I .4 5 5 mm m 1 1 TN #1 4 mu 1 m ww III V 0 0 176 6 n m Tz :1: J 4 A m Mn av, W E M M M" A M L v. W n B W United StatesPatent 3,053,602 CABINET Charles Golenpaul, South Dartmouth, Mass.,assignor to Aerovox Corporation, a corporation of Massachusetts FiledDec. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 857,903 2 Claims. (Cl. 312201) The presentinvention relates more particularly to cabinets of type especiallyuseful for storing small articles of merchandise in the ware houses orstockrooms of jobbers and distributors generally.

As conducive to a clear understanding of the objectives of theinvention, it is noted that where small articles, illustrativelyelectrical or electronic components, such as capacitors, resistors,inductances, lamps, small electronic tubes, transistors and otherarticles of merchandise that are commonly individually packaged incartons of length usually of 3" to 4", are stacked on the shelving,usually about 8" deep, commonly used in such warehouses, considerablestorage space is wasted. Where it is attempted to stock the articles ina back row and a front row of stacks on a given shelf, access to theback or hidden stacks is difficult and necessitates removal of part orall of the front stacks, with loss of time, expense and confusion; alsostacks of the cartons whose end dimensions are frequently 1%" are likelyto fall in such handling and to drop behind the shelving or racks. t

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide acabinet that may readily be mounted on the conventional shelf rackscommonly used in warehouses for articles of the character set forth, andwhich admits of stacking small articles of the character set forth in afront or a rear row of stacks for better utilization of the storagespace, and yet affords ready access to the back and normally hidden rowof stacks of merchandise, without the need for removing some or all ofthe merchandise from the front row of stacks, which alone is normallyexposed to view and which admits of convenient identification of themerchandise, not only in the front row of stacks, but in the back row ofstacks as well.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possibleembodiments of the various features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a front elevation showing the cabinet in closed position andin phantom view the shelving where the cabinet may be mounted;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation showing the cabinet in place on the shelvingand with one cabinet door open, but not fully open, better to reveal theconstruction;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in longitudinal cross section and on alayer scale taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view in longitudinal cross-section through the depth of theclosed cabinet, taken on line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 taken on line 6--6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view in transverse cross-section taken on line 77 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view, partly in section on a larger scale of afragment of the identification card holder; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional detail on a larger scale of the lower righthand corner of FIG. 7.

Referring now to the drawings, the cabinet, which may be of any suitablematerial, is rectangular in shape and is illustratively shown with sixuniformly spaced shelves. The cabinet preferably comprises a floor 10, aback wall 11, side walls 12 and a top wall 13.

Where, as is preferred, the cabinet is made of. sheet metal, the backedge of each side wall has a narrow flange 14 but at right anglesthereto, extending the height of the cabinet and overlapping and weldedto the edge region of the back wall 1 1.

The floor 10 of the cabinet when of sheet metal as preferred, hasdownturned side flanges 16 and alike downturned back flange 17 whichextend flush with the lower edges of the back and side walls and arewelded respectively to said walls. The floor also has a downturned frontflange 18 overlapped at its lower ends by the lower end of the narrowflange or flu 50 at the front of the cabinet integral with and bentinwardly at right angles to the forward edge of the side wall 12. Flange1 8 has inturned ledge 19 to guard against the exposure of a sharp edge.

The top wall 13' of the cabinet has a downturned back flange 21 andsimilar downturned side flanges 22 that are welded to the back wall andthe side walls respectively of the cabinet, the top wall 13 extendingflush with the upper edges of the back and side walls. The front of thetop wall has a downturned flange 24, with an inturned ledge 25 extendingthe length thereof to guard against exposure of a sharp edge.

The cabinet has a number of shelves 26 extending the length of thecabinet but of width only substantially half the width of each side wall12 of the cabinet. Illustratively five such shelves are shown inaddition to the floor 10 of the cabinet, which, of course, serves as ashelf that affords storage space corresponding to that of each of theshelves thereabove. The shelves are desirably also of sheet metal. Eachshelf 26 is rectangular, extending from side wall to side wall 12 alongthe back wall 11 and extending, as above noted, for only substantiallyonehalf the width of the side walls.

Each shelf has downturned flanges, flange 27 downturned from its backedge and preferably welded to the back wall of the cabinet. Flanges 28extend down from the ends of the shelves 26 and are welded to the respec:t-ive side Walls 12 of the cabinet.

There is also a flange 30 downturned from the front of each shelf, andthis flange is preferably of greater width than the flanges 27 and 28,for replaceably mounting identification cards C for merchandise to bestored on the corresponding shelf. To this end, the front flange 30 hasa superposed sheet metal strip 31 with downturned narrow flange 32 atits top edge and upturned narrow flange 33 at its bottom edge. Theseflanges are slightly spaced from the strip 31 and are desirablyinterrupted illustratively as at 34, for facility of introduction andremoval of identification cards C that are held between the strip 31 andthe flanges 32 and 33, which serve as guides or runways for theidentification cards C.

Upon the floor 10 immediately in front of the front flange 30 of theshelves 26, there is welded a strip 36 extending the length of thecabinet with lateral inturned flanges 37 and 38 similar to those of thestrips 31 on the shelves thereabove and these flanges are interruptedjust a as those on the shelves, for removably mounting identificationcards C for the merchandise to be stacked upon the floor shelf.

In addition to the shelves within the cabinet above described,merchandise is accommodated by the door or preferably by the two doors40 of the cabinet. To this end, each of the two doors is formed with aback wall 41, side walls 42, a bottom in the form of a shelf 43, and atop 44.

Preferably the back wall 41 and the side walls 42 of the door are madeof a unitary blank of sheet metal, from the back wall portion of whichare bent out at right angles thereto, the two side wall portions 42. Thetop 44 of the door has a downturned back flange 65 and downturned sideflanges 66, welded to the inner faces of the back wall and side wallsrespectively of the door and a downturned front flange connecting theside walls of the door.

Each door is formed with a hinge along its forward edge adjacent thecorresponding side walls of the cabinet. The hinge consists of a hingeleaf 46 extending the height of the door and welded to its side wall 42and a companion leaf 47 which maybe aflixed as by bolts consisting ofshort male elements 48 and corresponding nuts 49 clamping the leaf 42 tothe narrow flange or fin 50. The hinge pin 51 is a length of piano wireextending through the loops 52 and 53 of the two hinge leaves 46 and 47for substantially the entire height of the cabinet. Thus there isafforded a very sturdy hinge which will sustain the weight of the doorand the merchandise upon the door shelves even when the door is leftwide open.

In view of the depth of the door, the effective width of each of thedoors is somewhat less than half the length of the cabinet in order toafford the necessary clearance for opening and closing.

To close the vertical gap between the fronts of the doors when closed,the free side wall of each door preferably has an upright ledge 55unitary therewith extending the height of the door, which ledgepreferably has a fin 56 extending inward the height thereof from itsouter edge.

The door has a plurality of shelves illustratively six, corresponding tothose including the floor within the cabinet. Although these shelves maybe horizontal just as are those within the cabinet, they are preferablypitched or inclined downwardly from front to rear as is also the flooror lowermost shelf of the door. Each shelf has downturned flanges,flange 65 being welded to the back wall, and downturned side flanges 66welded to the side walls of the door. Each shelf also has a downturnedfront flange 67, preferably of greater width than the other flanges,which front flange has welded thereto a front strip 68 similar to thoseon the shelves 26 within the cabinet, with flanges 69 and 70 interruptedat 34 (FIG. 8) for identification cards C. The lowermost shelf, whichconstitutes the bottom of the door, comes flush with the lower edge ofthe back wall 41 of the door, and has lateral mounting flanges 71extending upward as shown, which are welded to the respective back walland side walls of the door. The index card carrier flange of the floorshelf is identical with those of the other shelves of the door.

The cabinet may be mounted on conventional shelving 75 and aflixed inplace by means of angle brackets 57 secured by bolts 58, the outstandingparts of the angle bracket being attached to the shelving 75 by screws76.

Desirably the back of the door has latches 60 extending rearwardtherefrom to snap into corresponding latch holders 61 mounted oninturned ledges 62 unitary with shelves of the cabinet.

On the back face of one or both doors 4%) there is adequate room for therectangular frame 63 for removably mounting a catalog or inventory sheet(not shown) of everything contained in the cabinet.

It will thus be seen that the cabinet is an inexpensive structure thatadmits of ready accommodation on standard shelving in a stockroom, towhich it may be bolted.

The cabinet admits of economy of storage space, in that, when of depthin the order of say 8 inches corresponding to standard steel shelving,it admits of utilization for two rows of stacks of merchandise, onebehind the other at each of the shelf levels. Each door may readily befully opened, completely to expose the shelves within the cabinet andthe merchandise mounted thereon. Accordingly, the cabinet provides agreat convenience to the jobber or distributor in affording readyaccessibility to small articles of merchandise on the door shelves andjust as ready accessibility by simply opening the door or doors, to thearticles on the shelves within the cabinet, without the waste of storagespace by having only one row of stacks of merchandise in a cabinet ofsuflicient depth to accommodate two such rows of stacks, or on the otherhand, causing inconvenience and loss of time in handling, where it isattempted to accommodate two sets of stacks, one behind the other, on anordinary shelf.

The cabinet of the present invention also affords the greatest ofconvenience in inventory control, as the available stock on the rearseries of stacks may readily be determined without physically removingthe merchandise in the front stacks as would be necessary in the absenceof the present invention.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madeWithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A sheet metal cabinet suitable for storing small articles in astockroom and having a back wall, side walls, a floor and a top wall,said cabinet having a plurality of shelves along the back wall,extending forward for substantially half the width of the side walls anda pair of sheet metal doors hinged to the fronts of the respective sidewalls of the cabinet, each of said doors having a back wall, side walls,a bottom wall and a top wall, said side walls of the doors being of asubstantial width less than half the width of the side walls of thecabinet, so that the doors when closed will extend well into the spacein the cabinet in front of the shelves in the latter, each of said doorshaving a series of shelves extending across the width and depth thereofto substantially the front of the door, the combined effective width ofthe doors being less than the width of the cabinet in order to affordclearance for opening and closing the doors, each door having an uprightsheet metal ledge, integral with the free side wall thereof as a lateralextension of the front wall of each door, each of said ledges having afin integral therewith, extending inwardly at right angles thereto andsubstantially the height thereof, the ledges of the two closed doorsextending in side by side relation and substantially filling the openspace between the fronts of the doors, and the fins being in face toface relation with each other.

2. A sheet metal rectangular cabinet for storing of small articles ofmerchandise in a storeroom for con venience in making up orders, saidcabinet comprising a back wall, side walls, a floor and a top, a seriesof shelves extending the width of the cabinet and engaging and attachedto the back and the side walls of the cabinet, each shelf being of widthof substantially half the width of the end walls, said cabinet having apair of sheet metal doors hinged to the fronts of the side wallsthereof, each door being of sheet metal and comprising a door body madeup of a blank comprising a back wall and side walls integral therewith,said side walls being of width substantially half 7 the width of theside walls of the cabinet, each door being of Width somewhat less thanhalf the width of the cabinet to afford opening and closing clearance,each of said doors having shelves accessible from the front of thecabinet, said shelves extending from the back wall of the door along theside walls thereof and sloping rearwardly, each shelf comprising aunitary piece of sheet metal with downturned back and side flangesaflixed to the back and side walls of the door, each shelf also having adownturned front flange extending across the width of the front part ofthe door, each shelf also having affixed to the front flange thereof inface to face relation therewith, a sheet metal strip with out turnedflanges top and bottom extending parallel to the strip and havinginterruptions for faciliating introduction and removal of cards toidentify the merchandise to be stored on the shelves, each. door havinga mounting hinge plate welded to the outer face of the front part of itsside wall, and a mounting fin for the other leaf of the hinge extendingsubstantially the height of the cabinet at its front and integral Withthe side wall of the cabinet, each door having a ledge extendingsubstantially the height thereof, integral with and at right angles tothe side Wall of the door near the midsection of the cabinet, each ledgehaving an inturned fin along the height thereof, said ledges being inside by side relation, with their fins in substantially face to facerelation, to close the space between the doors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS747,062 Gill Dec. 15, 1903 772,407 Ellett Oct. 18, 1904 1,074,964Maxwell Oct. 7, 1913 1,406,758 Purdie Feb. 14, 1922 1,743,266 Burns Jan.14, 1930 1,748,319 Vance Feb. 25, 1930 1,877,514 Katzman Sept. 13, 19322,046,909 Terry July 7, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 332,963 France Nov. 12,1903 634,344 France Feb. 16, 1928

